Miami Test: Sportbike, Supersport, XR Wrap

Two days following round one of the Daytona round in he 2012 AMA Pro Racing Championship, the teams headed to Homestead-Miami Speedway for some testing.

Following are reports for AMA Daytona SportBike, AMA Supersport and the Vance & Hines XR1200 Series courtesy of AMA Pro Racing; for a report of the AMA Superbike class, click here.

AMA Daytona SportBike

Cameron Beaubier is making waves early in his second AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike season. The Californian finished third after leading five laps of the season-opening Daytona 200 last weekend and was immediately competitive at this week’s test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Beaubier’s fast time of 1:24.431 on the No. 6 Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 was nearly a half-second ahead of his closest competitor.

Cameron Beaubier (Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 SportBike) says: “It was really good; the track got a little more grip today. We tried some things with suspension, getting a little more brake feel. The bike worked really well today, I really like the track and I’m excited to race here.”

The only other GoPro Daytona SportBike rider to crack the 1:24 mark was GEICO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, who found speed in the second day of the test and posted a fast lap of 1:24.807. Tommy Hayden, freshly added to the Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha team at Daytona, posted the third fastest lap for the class with a time of 1:25.266.

Tommy Hayden (Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 SportBike) says: “I enjoyed myself here at the track. It seemed like everything went pretty smooth, cool to have a new race and a new track to come and ride. I felt more comfortable with the bike and the team as well, chipped away at things little by little. I made my times a little faster and I’m feeling good.

“I’m going to be doing the next two races, for sure. It’s a big change for me, you know, with a new team, running a 600, but I’m really looking forward to it so I want to come to the next race and put in a little better fight than we did in Daytona.

“No major changes, the bike has proven itself for years. A couple of small things to get myself more comfortable personally to it, for my riding style, but for the most part I’m just adapting myself back to the 600 riding style and trying to break some superbike bad habits. I feel pretty confident at Road Atlanta. We are going to be able to compete there with some good results.”

Rounding out the top five were AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike rookies Benny Solis (No. 35 Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R600), who turned in the fourth fastest lap of 1:25.341, and Jake Gagne (No. 132 RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha YZF-R6). Both rising stars are eligible for the Saddlemen Rookie of the Year award, created to bring attention to AMA Pro’s rising talent in the GoPro Daytona SportBike division.

AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport

In the first AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport race of 2012, Jake Lewis took home a second-place result to defending series champion James Rispoli by just 0.032 seconds.

This week during the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Lewis reversed the running order by throwing down the best Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport time of 1:26.336 in Wednesday’s opening session on his No. 85 Vesrah Riders Discount Suzuki GSX-R600. Though Rispoli topped him in the day’s remaining sessions, Lewis was able to hold on to the top spot.

Jak Lewis (Vesrah Riders Discount Suzuki GSX-R 600 SuperSport) says: “It went really well, we ended up setting the fastest time of the test so we’re happy. I’ve gotten really comfortable with the bike and the team and I’m looking forward to going to Road Atlanta. I know that track, so I won’t have to deal with the learning curve like I did at Daytona. Mark Junge gave me a road bicycle so I’m going to be training hard to get ready for the next race.”

Rispoli turned his fastest time of 1:26.441 in the first afternoon session following a series of consistent outings on the No. 1 Celtic Racing/ Orient Express Racing Suzuki GSX-R600.

James Rispoli (Celtric Racing/Orient Express Racing Suzuki GSX-R 600 SuperSport) says: “I think we’re pretty close. That last session there we did a 1:26.4, we made a couple of mistakes on that lap so I know that lap could have been quicker. Once we get down to those times, we’ll be able to click them off whenever we want to.

“We were very consistent when we did our race simulation and I feel that we can run consistent lap times. We’re hoping to get lower for the race weekend coming up and to just run consistent lap times. It seems like everybody is just throwing the one-off laps in there, which is fine, but from what we saw, we’ve able to be really consistent which is good.”

Kyle Wyman has contested all but one round of the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series since its inception in 2010. The 22-year-old can also boast the he is the only rider to win an AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series race held in the state of Florida, having successfully defended his 2011 victory at Daytona International Speedway with an equally impressive 2012 win.

The top three Vance & Hines XR1200 Series riders from the season-opening round at Daytona found themselves in the same positions during the Homestead-Miami Speedway test, and Wyman’s fast lap of 1:33.055 will serve as a benchmark for the competition when the Series returns in September for the Big Kahuna Miami.

Kyle Wyman says: “I think this is a really fun track. It was my first time riding here so I didn’t know what to expect. Even just in the first few laps, I knew it was going to be something that fit my style. I like the hard braking and tight corners and all that, the flat stuff.

“Then coming on and off the NASCAR track is always cool, it’s worked out pretty good for me in the past. I can’t wait to get back here in September, it seems like a long ways away but we’ve got a really good track. The XR racing is going to be really good, it always is.”

Not far behind, standout Tyler O’Hara set the second fastest lap for the class at 1:34.060, followed by Bartels’ Harley-Davidson teammate Michael Barnes with a time of 1:34.570.